Ontario may be home to beautiful galleries and museums, and has a night life full of excitement, culture and fun, however, it offers something else that cannot be found anywhere else. Whether it’s for young children who want nothing more to see the Stanley Cup with their own eyes, or their adults who want to see the wall that features their hometown heroes from their childhood, the Hockey Hall of Fame is not just for any hockey fan, but for every Canadian too.
What You Didn’t Know…
The Hockey Hall of Fame, located in the heart of down town Toronto, is bursting with history, pride, and fun! As soon as one walks in the experience begins, with Mask Wall, which displays famous goalie masks dating all the way back to the beginning of the NHL, with the wooden masks, all the way to the hi-tech masks one sees today. This single wall alone allows one to appreciate how much the sport of hockey has evolved, along with the country too. As one is finished with the masks the Puck Wall is next, featuring almost 1,300 pucks from different tournaments and arenas all around the world.
The Hockey Hall of Fame is essentially a place of the past and present, exhibiting not only the stars of today, but the amazing players and teams of the past. One of the biggest highlights is the Montreal Canadiens dressing room, featuring their hundred years of success, and the jerseys of their former players including Ken Dryden, and The Rocket. Out of any NHL team, the Canadiens are the most historic, and any hockey fan (yes, even Leafs fans) can see how much they have accomplished as a city and as an organization.
Not Just the NHL…
Many people think that the Hall of Fame is just a tribute to the NHL and its players, but it also has exhibits for International Hockey, women’s hockey, and disabled hockey. It features things like the 100 greatest moments in International Hockey, including the puck from Sidney Crosby’s, ‘Golden Goal,’ and from the 1980, ‘Miracle on ice’. Apart from that it has the members of the Triple Gold Club, for players who have won the Stanley Cup, and both Olympic and World Championship Gold.
Probably the biggest highlight is in Verizon Great Hall, where all the NHL trophies are located, including the Rocket Richard and Conn Smythe Trophies, which are dwarfed by what draws the biggest crowd and camera flashes, the Stanley Cup. On any day there is a huge line up of people, families and friends, wanting to get their picture with the trophy that has shaped a sport.
Fun For All!
While it may be full of over a hundred years of hockey history, it offers fun for the kids too, turning the Hockey Hall of Fame into a full day family experience. It has the Be a Player Zone, where kids can shoot against a virtual goalie as if they were playing in the real game, with a real stick, puck and, scoreboard. Worried the kids are having all the fun? It also offers games for adults looking to test their hockey knowledge in the Pepsi Game Time exhibit.
Seeing the Stanley Cup is only one of the hundreds of amazing features the Hockey Hall of Fame has. From thousands of hockey pucks from all over the world to virtual hockey games, the Hockey Hall of Fame can turn the average Canadian into a hockey fan, and the average hockey fan into a hockey addict much like others across Canada.
